Show-case.



L. JOHNSON.

SHOW OASE. v y APPLICATION FILED NV. 28, 1913. 1,1 30,407., Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

lazvwgn.

il Il l l, il l l W/TNESSES.' 75M v .7b/7775077, g mf BY- A TTORNEY THE MORRIS PETERS co. FHGTC-LITHD.. WAs...nu'TON. LII4 C.

as nanna* SHOW-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Application led November 28, 1913. Serial No. 803,469.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LAFE JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of indiana, have invented a new and useful Show-Case, of which the following is a specification.

It is an ordinary custom to make store show cases accessible only from the rear, so that an attendant must remove the goods from the show case to enable a customer to handle them. While this has advantages, it also has many disadvantages, for it entailslabor on the part of the attendant to remove and replace many articles which are not sold and requires the attendant to handle the goods, which` latter feature is unsanitary or otherwise undesirable in many cases. hibits the purveyor from handing individual cigars to a customer. Such doors are likely to be left open without attracting the attention of the clerk, thus causing the contents of the case to dry out. Where several clerks serve at the same case, the vertical sliding-doors cause interference between the clerks.` Show cases are also made with hinged tops, which can be raised to give both the customer and the attendant access to the contents but this arrangement 1s open to the objection that. other articles cannot be stored on the top, as is generally desirable fordisplay purposes and to the further objection that the movement of the hinged top produces a current of air, which is in many cases undesirable, as in the-case of candies and cigars, for these are then dried out by the continual changing of the air. In some instances show cases have been provided with tops which are slidable longitudinally, or in a line parallel tothe front of the show case, but this arrangement is undesirable for the reasons, that the whole length of the show case cannot then be opened up at once, and that when opening the show case diliiculties arise as in the case of hinged tops if articles are stored on the top, for display, and that the attendant is very apt, especially if he is at all careless, to leave the case partly or wholly open. The show cases which open at the top by having the tops either hinged or longitudinally slidable are still further objectionable in that they are not readily adapted to be guarded against opening by customers without requiring considerable trouble .in

In some States the law pro-V opening them on the part of the attendant,

for the ordinary lock and key, sometimes used for' this purpose, 1s very troublesome when sales are numerous.

It is the object of my present invention, therefore, to provide a show case whichk avoids the various difliculties and objections noted above, allowing a customer ready access at once to all parts of it upon permission, and only upon permission, of a duly eor qualified attendant, so that there is no necessity for the attendant to handle the goods, avoiding currents of air due to opening and closing, permitting the locking of the show case in closed position by easily Yoperable means accessible only to the attendant, guarding against the accidental leaving-open of the show case, and permitting -the whole length of a show case top to be used for displaying various articles without interfering with access to the interior. To' this end, I make a show case top in front and rear sections, the front section being slidable under the rear section transversely of the show case to permit access by the customer through the space occupied by the front section when it is in closed position.

The front section is movable rearwardly by the attendant from beneath-the rear section, and when open preferably projects slightly beyond the rear of the rear section so as to indicate readily, even to a careless attendant,that it is open. A latch may be provided for holding the front section in closed position, which latch may be located beneath the rear section in position so thatv it is released by the attendant bythe same movement in which he draws back the front plan view of such show case on a somewhat larger scale; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. l isa partial section somewhat similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified construction; Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5e-5 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 a detail of a slight modification.

The show case has a base 10, a front 11, and sides 12, of any desired construction though conveniently largely of glass, and may be divided into upper and lower compartments by an intermediate shelf 13. The lower compartment, which forms no part of my invention, may be provided at the rear with doors 14, which conveniently slide past each other to allow access to the lower compartment by an attendant. A molding-20 extends along the top edges of the front 11 and sides 12 and may extend back from the front of the show case at one or more intermediate points, as at 20', to divide the top into a number of panels. The rear portion 21 of the show case top is fixed to the upper surface of the' molding 20, and preferably extends from the rear of the show case less than half the distance to the front thereof. This rear section 21 may be either opaque, as when it is made of wood or opal glass as illustrated in Fig. 3, or transparent, as when made of glass, as illustrated in Fig. 4. The inner upper corners of the molding 20, 1ncluding the intermediate pieces 20', are conveniently ra'bbetedto provide a shoulder on which slidingly rests the front section 22 of the top. This front section is conveniently a simple glass plate, and is slidable forward and backward, or toward and from the frontof they show case. front section 22 may lie directly in the channel 20 and slide therein, as shown in Fig. (i, the' moldinginsuch case being unrabbeted. When the forward section is in forward position it extends from the front molding 20 backward to a point under the rear section 21,*sothat the two sectionsoverlap as indicated in Figs. 2, 8, and 4. A support 23 is located beneath the rear edge of the front section 22 when such section is in forward position, the upper face of this support preferably beingin substantially the same plane as the" horizontal rabbet surfaces of the molding 20 so that it furnishes' part of the support on which said front section slides. An oblique partition 24 extends backward and downward from the support 23 to the rear of the show case at a" point above the shelf 13. section 21 of the top, may be either opaque or transparent, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 respectively. Thus there is provided between the rear section 21 and the partition 24 a tapering'pocket into which the' attendant may insert his hand to grasp the rear edge of the front section 22 of the top to move such front section backward from closed position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, to open positiona's shown in dotted lines in such figure. `When the front sectionv 22 is thus moved backward, it projects sufficiently beyond the rear of the show case, so as t-o indicate even to a careless attendant that the show case is open, and also allows the customer easy access for the full length of the front section and the 4full Tf desired, theV This partition 24, like the rear width ofthe show case to the goods, such as cigars, which are within the show case. If the top of the'show case has several panels, of which two are illustrated in Figs. 1 land 2, the front sections 22 of all the panels can be withdrawn simultaneously, to allow access to the whole length and breadth of the show case. To facilitate the withdrawal of the front section 22, it may be provided at its rear edge with some grip-facilitating device, suchl as a short depending lip 25, as illustrated in Figs.y 2, 3, and 5,` or with a finger groove 26,as illustreated in Fig. 4.

in order to prevent a customer from sliding the front section 22 backward, a latch 27 may be provided if desired, which latch is shown as a bar pivoted at 28 to the support 2li-so that its shorter end will swing up behind the rear edge of the front section 22 when the latter is shoved forward, the :longer and heavier end ofthe latch 27, which normally swings downward by gravity, being movable upward by the fingers of the attendant as he grasps the lip 25 or the groove 26. This latch is not'accessible to the customer, for the rear section 21 forms an effective guard plate but is operated without effort by the attendant. Tnstead of the latch 27, the guides 20 for the section 22 may bek deepened at theforward ends so as to form a shoulder 40 in front of which the plate 22 willnormally lie and over which the rear edge of the plate will be lifted by the clerk just as the plate is started on its backward movement.

The rear section 21, which is stationary, may be usedk asa display shelf without interfering with the movement of the front section 22, and the movement of such front section does not create any drafts which might cause the contents of the show case to deteriorate. The rear of the'upper part of the show case is closed by suitable doors 29, conveniently sliding doors, extending from the top ofthe shelf 13to the lower and rearward edge of the partition 24, by which doors the salesman may obtain access to the upper part of the show case without moving the front section 22'.

I' claim as my invention:

1. A store show case having a top comprising: a rear section and a front section which is movable'forwardly and rearwardly beneath said rear section by access from the rear, and a partition extending lengthwise of the show case and extending backwardly and downwardly from a point beneath the rear edge of the front section when the latter is in its forward position,lthe rear section and the partition thus' forming a pocket into which an attendant may reach from the rear of the show case to grasp the rear edge of the front section.

2. A store show case having ay top comprising a rear section and a front section which is movable forwardly and rearwardly beneath said rear section by access from the rear, a partition extending lengthwise of the show case and extending backwardly and downwardly from a point beneath the rear edge of the front section when the latter is in its forward position, the rear section and the partition thus forming a pocket into which an attendant may reach from the rear of the show case to grasp the rear edge of the front section, and sliding doors beneath the rear end of said partition. K

3. A store show case having a top comprising a fixed rear section and a slidable front section, said front section being mov able forwardly and rearwardly beneath said rear section and when in forward position having its rear edge rearward of the front edge of the rear section and forward of the rear edge of the rear section, and partitions which with said rear section forni a pocket open to the rear of the show case but separated by such partitions from the space within the show case, the front section when in forward position having its rear edge within said pocket so that an attendant may reach into said pocket from the rear of the show case to grasp said rear edge.

4. A store show case having a top comprising a xed rear section and a slidable front section, said front section being movable forwardly and rearwardly beneath said rear section and when in forward position having its rear edge rearward of the front edge of the rear section and forward of the rear edge of the rear section, partitions which with said rear section form a pocket open to the rear of the show case but separated by such partitions from the space within the show case, the front section when in forward position having its rear edge within said pocket so that an attendant mayl Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

